by J. D. Tyler
Zan helped his friend to his feet. “You did good.”
“It’s not enough. I don’t have a sense of whether they’re still around.”
Nick made sure Zan was looking at him before he interjected. “They are. I don’t know how many, but they’re here. Waiting.”
“For what?” Zan asked.
“Us, maybe? I don’t know. But I do know we have to go after them.”
That was creepy as hell. Especially since Nick frequently knew things about the future that he either couldn’t—or wouldn’t—tell them. He didn’t believe in interfering with free will or tampering with the future. Rumor had it he’d once tried to change a terrible outcome, with disastrous results.
None of that mattered at the moment. Any of them would follow Nick into hell on his word alone. The Pack waited as he told the disgruntled Feds that he was taking charge of the body and removing it. Unbeknownst to the suits, the dead man would wind up at the Pack’s top-secret compound being studied from head to toe for any clues they could glean about the rogues. Eventually, the body would be released to the man’s relatives, if there were any.
They split up into twos and threes to search the woods, spreading out. Zan found himself walking with Nix and Micah, which was fine by him. It was good to work alongside his old buddies again. He’d missed them even more than he’d realized.
Keeping a sharp eye out, he studied his surroundings despite his growing headache. It was strange not to hear the birds in the trees, the crunch of leaves underfoot. No wind, no voices. Just the steady presence of his companions. He had his knife and laser gun, not to mention his wolf’s teeth and claws. He could do this after all. Be a contributing team member still.
It was that exact moment when things went to hell.
A rush of air and a scrape on his neck was his only warning as a body barreled into him, knocking him to the ground. He had a split second to realize Nix was the one who’d shoved him—saving him just in time from having his throat ripped out by the razor-sharp claws of a rogue vampire.
And now Nix was fighting for his life.
Zander unsheathed his knife and threw himself at the rogue, just as more of them emerged from the trees and flew at them like the hollow-faced horrors they were.